Movies

Since I got HBO this week, I’ve been setting the DVR to record a lot of movies. I always do this when I first get HBO, but I slow down about three weeks into it. For now, I’m watching a lot of movies mostly out of boredom or trying to get through my Netflix queue.

Here are the movies I’ve watched this week:

Ever After – I really liked this movie when I first saw it (years ago) but I guess I was oblivious to all the bad things in the movie. I thought it was OK the second time around, but I definitely wouldn’t give it the high remarks I did a few years ago. Some of the lines were just so much cheesier than I remember. And I'm amazed the girl could sneak away from chores for so long! I still think the story has potential – I mean, what girl doesn’t love a good Cinderella story? But it just didn’t gel for me this time around.

Going the Distance – I swear I’m not on a Drew Barrymore kick. It just so happens that she was also in this movie! I was surprised that I kind of enjoyed this one… even though, halfway through it, I was wondering when it was going to end. Some parts definitely felt long, the story was predictable and the dialogue felt overworked – someone was trying too hard to make a point or to be funny. But there is no denying that Barrymore and Justin Long had chemistry. I can’t recall if they were actually dating when this film was being shot, but I was really surprised at how great they were together. I guess it doesn’t help that I have a tiny crush on Long. Too bad they’re not together anymore because I believed in their relationship, especially after this movie!

Welcome to Dollhouse – So, it took me about 45 minutes to finally get into this 1.5 hour long movie (LOL), but overall, I really enjoyed it. Heather Matarazzo is so genius in this movie as an awkward pre-teen. Even though I didn’t have the angst or face the same reasons for why she had so much pent up anger as a teen, I could still relate to her raw emotions and the kinds of relationships you build and how you build them with people at that age. And while my dense brain can’t sometimes “get” dark comedies, I enjoyed this one! I even found myself laughing out loud.

Charlie St. Cloud – This was a book chosen for book club last year. While I didn’t read the book in time for the meeting, I did finish it. I decided to record and watch the movie version since it was HBO. I thought it did a good job actually following the book (or at least I thought it did a good job of doing so). Unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan of the book and therefore, thought the movie was OK. My takeaway, though, was that Zac Efron is HOT and actually a pretty good actor. I’d like to see some of his other movies and see him in a more adult role. My only fear is that he will become like Leonardo DiCaprio to me. While I love DiCaprio, he still has that baby face, which makes it hard for me to believe some of the characters he has played in more hard-hitting movies. Fortunately, he is a great actor so in sometimes, I can by-pass the baby face. But will Efron overcome that - and can he become a great actor? Let me just emphasize that I am not comparing their actual talent - just the fact that they both have baby faces! LOL

We shall see in time!